Moon of Alabama Brecht quote
February 15, 2026
The MoA Week In Review – OT 2026-040

Last week’s posts on Moon of Alabama:


Other issues:

Gaza:

Perfidious Albion:

Europe:

The Bezzle

Use as open (not related to the wars in Ukraine and Palestine) thread …

Comments

we need a middle east open thread

Posted by: dp | Feb 15 2026 14:40 utc | 1

This interview with John Helmer is important.

Posted by: Maracatu | Feb 15 2026 14:41 utc | 2

Uhhuhg MORE Tracey om Epstein. Lol

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Feb 15 2026 14:45 utc | 3

West Asia Thread
 
Palestine is the focal point but the war is regional

Posted by: NotPaulHollywood | Feb 15 2026 15:05 utc | 4

Posted by: Maracatu | Feb 15 2026 14:41 utc | 2
 
I agree it was an excellent discussion. Helmer shed light on the factional infighting going on in the Kremlin as well as Russia’s dilemma over how to protect their tankers from western depredations. Well worth the listen. 

Posted by: Maverick | Feb 15 2026 15:08 utc | 5

Have just been watching some stuff from the European security conference. Looks like the Europeans have fallen of the planet. Completely insane. In the end, Russia will have to destroy them.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Feb 15 2026 15:25 utc | 6

As a rule, I tend to ignore Helmer and Doctorow as they aren’t Russian, and from what I have seen are not very well connected to the machinery of the Russian state.
 
Mark Sleboda is a Western man (former military) who lives in Russia and whose personality has taken on a Russian character. I find his analysis consistent and rigorous, like a Russian.
 
Mark appears through multiple channels. With Garland Nixon, Rachel Blevins, Danny Haiphong, Crosstalk, among others regularly.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Feb 15 2026 15:38 utc | 7

Updated with 2025 % recently published (exactly as predicted in mid-2022): 
 
Interest cost of federal debt as percentage of federal revenues:
 
Actual
~2% 2019
~9% 2021
~18% 2024
~24% 2025
 
Projected
~xx% 2026
~xx% 2027
 
My back of the envelope shows 28-30% in 2026 and 30-34% in 2027.  If that’s true, then the Federal Gov‘t will face some sort of a insolvency crisis in 2027.
 
Watch 10 year treasury interest rate: if stays above 4% then bond market agrees with my prediction of an insolvency crisis; if 10 year drops below 3% then I am wrong. TBD
 
Note: Federal Revenues are a tad above  $5 trillion.
 
 

Posted by: Exile | Feb 15 2026 15:40 utc | 8

Levant Thread is best

Posted by: Exile | Feb 15 2026 15:44 utc | 9

Jesus … doubling down on the Tracey nonsense … sad to see such moral vacuity on this site.  
Re the Simplicimus article. I’m sure it’s occurred to other barmates: is one of Trump’s main roles to create this fake “you can’t rely on the US” meme such that EU satraps like the execrable German chancellor can hector his people into spending far more than they want to on weapons … most of them American weapons putting $$$ into the right pockets? 

Posted by: Caliman | Feb 15 2026 15:49 utc | 10

A little levity for the day.
https://torrancestephensphd.substack.com/p/rise-of-the-botox-beaujolais-box

Posted by: Dogon priest | Feb 15 2026 15:59 utc | 11

Posted by: Exile | Feb 15 2026 15:40 utc | 8
 
######
 
The inevitability of math is inescapable. The tangible material signs  are also there.
 
The number of STEM graduates. The number of engineering graduates. The amount of electricity generated.
 
All falling behind the East as “real” capital is drying up for the West.
 
Lots of fiat but little gold or steel. Lots of government debt but relatively little gallium or antimony. 

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Feb 15 2026 16:02 utc | 12

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Feb 15 2026 15:38 utc | 7
 
Your loss. But I understand since Helmer disrupts your perfect world with reality. Can’t have that. 

Posted by: Maverick | Feb 15 2026 16:04 utc | 13

Posted by: Maverick | Feb 15 2026 16:04 utc | 13
 
######
 
It is tragic, comedic, and pathetic to see people become possessive about media figures they have never met.
 
My point was simple, on the merits of the source, I find Helmer and other Western comments wanting when it comes to Russia.
 
How naive must one be to believe that any sources in Russia are going to reveal the internal social dynamics of the state to a Western journalist?
 
And if they did, why would they?
 
Without persistent skepticism most people become suckers and marks for more socially cunning actors.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Feb 15 2026 16:11 utc | 14

thanks b!  have a great weekend everyone and enjoy the hosts generousity… 

Posted by: james | Feb 15 2026 16:12 utc | 15

Epstein 1 of 3 Founders of the Core Club in NYC
 
name dropping article on opening of Club

Posted by: Exile | Feb 15 2026 16:13 utc | 16

comments = commentators 

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Feb 15 2026 16:13 utc | 17

The problem with Tracey’s article is that he mostly ignores Epstein’s accomplice, Ghislaine, who got convicted for sex trafficking and other crimes. She is mentioned one single, solitary time! Given the tightness of their relationship, you would have to assume that Epstein was an accessory, provided material support, and aided and abetted Ghislaine at the very least. But Tracey hangs his case on the fact the Epstein got convicted on only 2 counts, one of which was sex with a girl days before she was 18 (he ‘self-pleasured’ with her the rest of the time–guffaw, guffaw!) His conviction was the result of a highly favorable plea bargain, which almost certainly obscured much more than it revealed.
Personally I don’t trust any reports about Epstein that ignore Ghislaine while suggesting that Epstein is getting unfair treatment by the press. IMO such reports are part of a PR campaign to improve the image of those associated with Epstein, including the Donald–“since Epstein really wasn’t as bad as reported, neither were his clients and associates.”
 
 

Posted by: JohnH | Feb 15 2026 16:14 utc | 18

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Feb 15 2026 16:11 utc | 14
 
Quit with the drama queen LoveDonbass. You seem to be able to derive a lot from a simple comment suggesting a video. A video you won’t even watch. But I do have a question….Since your name suggests you love the Donbass, how do you feel that Russia has spent four years turning it to rubble instead of actually waging war. It seems odd that you defend every move by the Kremlin, even the stupid ones, and never once seem bothered that your beloved Donbass has been turned into a parking lot instead Russia actually trying to win the war. 

Posted by: Maverick | Feb 15 2026 16:20 utc | 19

Michael f**king Tracey!!
 
“Had he been moved for some reason to analyze Epstein’s criminal history, Chomsky would have found that Epstein pleaded guilty to two state-level prostitution charges in Florida in June 2008, completed his sentence, and was thereafter free to re-enter society. 
“In terms of the specifics of those charges, the only minor whom Epstein ever pleaded guilty to victimizing was a single individual, Ashley Davis, who had been seventeen years old during the relevant encounters, and told Palm Beach police that she had consensual sexual intercourse with Epstein one time, the day before her eighteenth birthday…” etc., etc.  Everything else is just a hysterical “witch hunt” according to Tracey.
 
No one – NO ONE – who has done ANY real reading at all on the Epstein case could take this bullshit seriously.  There are a million places to start. Here’s one:
 
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article214210674.html
 
Here’s the original Miami Herald series. There is a lot more to the Epstein story than just sex trafficking, but I’d recommend this as a starting point for understanding how dishonest and despicable Tracey’s “witch hunt” narrative is:
 
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article220097825.html
 
Here’s more on the strategy used by Epstein’s posse discussed by Rania Khalek – someone who b would willingly post on many other subjects:
 
https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/rania-khalek/how-alan-dershowitz-bullied-rape-victims-protect-serial-child-molester
 
As I say, EVERYONE who has looked into this knows this. Chomsky knew about it. But this is not about defending Chomsky as a great “leftist” hero; that is a secondary issue.  The “defense” of Chomsky is just a suitable excuse to defend Tracey’s completely dishonest “debunking” for left-leaning readers. But even more reprehensible, by doing so b has removed the Epstein case as a legitimate window to many overlapping issues of vital interest to MofA readers – Israel, the Israel lobby, Middle East policy, arms dealing, money laundering, etc., etc.  Just one example: the Forbes articles today are useful, but they are very limited hangouts. Nothing on Wexner’s ties to the MEGA group, for example. Or on *why* the reference to Terje Rød-Larsen might be significant (it was “unclear” to the Forbes author). Well, here’s a possibility:
 
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2026/2/12/compromised-peace-oslo-accords-figure-deeply-linked-to-epstein-network
 
This could have been posted on the Epstein links for this week. So could the very significant Epstein links that are rocking the entire British government this week. So could a million other things. But instead we get more Tracey.  I find it absolutely incomprehensible that b would risk his credibility on *this* particular hill.
 
 
 

Posted by: pjay | Feb 15 2026 16:35 utc | 20

Posted by: Maverick | Feb 15 2026 16:20 utc | 19
 
######
 
And that is why you love Helmer so.
 
Surface level thinking.
 
Russia is not fighting Ukraine. Russia is fighting NATO.
 
How does one defeat NATO?
 
Is it nuking London, or is it assassinating the European leadership?

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Feb 15 2026 16:43 utc | 21

Posted by: pjay | Feb 15 2026 16:35 utc | 20
 
######
 
b’s job is to start the discussion. Then he tends to let us argue it out.
 
If he told us what to think about every topic, then the comments would not be so lively.
 
He moderates with a light hand to enable others to speak freely.
 
But make no mistake, he has opinions and ideas. He doesn’t use MoA as a personal blog. He curates a safe space for geopolitical discussion of all types and sometimes his personal perspective creates a lot of feedback and argument.
 
If MoA isn’t thinking the way you think it should, hone your rhetorical skills and make persuasive arguments. Be the change you want to see in the world.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Feb 15 2026 16:51 utc | 22

LoveDonbass | Feb 15 2026 15:38 utc | 7
 
I have always been a bit skeptical of Helmer and his knowledge of the inner workings of the Kremlin. I did watch a bit of the linked video.
It was on the US piracy on the Russian oil tankers. Lavrov has stated that US is trying to take control of the worlds oil, especially the transit. I assume Putin will exhaust all areas of diplomacy before the next move.
 
Russia did announce it was sending oil to Cuba, basically breaking the American blockade so have to see what happens there. Now a large fire has broken out at Cuba’s largest refinery. I assume that is the work of the Americans.
 

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Feb 15 2026 16:58 utc | 23

pjay#20 – very good post. Tracey (and more lamentably, b) thought he had found a new Russia Hoax … but he had not. With all the witnesses available and talking, it was always ludicrous. But at this point, with the information that has come out over the past couple of months especially, this has moved into an inability to admit one was very very wrong. 

Posted by: Caliman | Feb 15 2026 17:03 utc | 24

Nothing like the Epstein affair to rile ppl up!  Read comments 1 – 100 on that past Epstein thread.
 
I like detective stories and I’m a fan of locked door death mysteries.  Both Epstein and Giuffre (VG) died in locked rooms. Allegedly. 
 
When VG died, I wondered if she had been killed, and looked into it. I am 100% convinced she committed suicide.  She locked herself in in her room and overdosed (on what Idk, but she was taking several types of meds.) Her death was ruled suicide, though some family members have said the ‘ingestion’ might have been accidental. 
 
She was estranged from her husband and children and living apart from them, with a full-time carer in her home (a woman of 70) because of some ‘injuries’ and ‘chronic pain.’ (From what idk.) 
 
Her husband had primary custody of the children (when this went down the eldest of 3 was 18 and the youngest 14) plus, she was under a restraining order (dated Feb 2025) requested by her husband, for domestic or ‘family’ (Aus terms) violence.
 
She was forbidden from contacting her children in any way.  She was facing a charge (case coming up at some point after her death) for violating that order.
 
Her last public messages include ‘wanting to see her babies again’…
 
She was also being sued by another Epstein victim, Rina Oh, for defamation, in 2021, case was ongoing.
 
(Concerns VG published lurid tales of SM lesbian sex, which Oh refuted.)
 
Oh links – current (I hadn’t read these before posting)
 
https://www.vickywardinvestigates.com/p/legal-pressure-was-mounting-on-virginia
 
https://www.thestandard.com.hk/world-news/article/324271/Epstein-accuser-He-lured-me-with-scholarship-then-took-it-away-when-I-refused-to-see-him
VG also accused her husband for physically abusing her for years, in April 2025, not a good look for a ‘bravest’ woman ‘denoucer’ …
Such a supremely sad story.  Dead at 41…. 

Posted by: Noirette | Feb 15 2026 17:04 utc | 25

@ Peter AU1 | Feb 15 2026 16:58 utc | 23
 
of course people ought to be skeptical of everything, hands down… singling out anyone for this special treatment doesn’t make sense to me… off for the day… 

Posted by: james | Feb 15 2026 17:11 utc | 26

Russia did announce it was sending oil to Cuba, basically breaking the American blockade so have to see what happens there. 
 
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Feb 15 2026 16:58 utc | 23
 
Totally empty. The last time Russia tried to covertly break the blockade of Venezuela, the ship was seized even with a Russian flag hastily raised. Nothing short of a heavily guarded convoy can actually get to Cuba, and it’s a terrible location to pick a major fight with the USN. For perspective, the Soviets backed down during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and they had a much stronger position in Latin America.
 
This is just “thoughts and prayers” from the resistance types. Yet it serves as a diplomatic concession to the Americans in exchange for- something, no doubt.

Posted by: They Call Me Mister | Feb 15 2026 17:12 utc | 27

They Call Me Mister | Feb 15 2026 17:12 utc | 27
 
The US backed down in the Cuban missile crisis. They pulled their missiles out of Turkey so the Soviets stopped deploying their missiles to Cuba. The Soviets achieved what they wanted to achieve.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Feb 15 2026 17:19 utc | 28

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Feb 15 2026 16:51 utc | 22
 
To me, featuring Michael Tracey as the primary voice in the Epstein case is equivalent to making Anne Applebaum the featured source on the Ukraine conflict or Adam Schiff as our window on Russiagate. Actually it is worse, because information on the sex-trafficking aspects of the Epstein case (not so much the financial, intelligence, and geopolitical aspects) is much more available than information on the sources of the Russiagate psyop.  b might post an Applebaum or a Schiff in links to “start the discussion.” But it would be clear how he felt about these sources of (mis)information. That is the difference – he apparently buys Tracey’s dishonest misdirection exercises completely. That is why so many of us are gobsmacked (there was nearly 1000 responses to b’s Tracey promotion post last week, and clearly most of them had the same reaction).  I guess, to use your framing, it’s not just that b is not “thinking like me” on this issue; to many of us he is not “thinking like b”. I suppose I could try to make a “persuasive argument” again. But how can you argue against the position that states there is “no evidence” on something on which there is reams of evidence by simply rejecting that evidence either by ignoring it or branding all of the human sources as liars? I think the “persuasive argument” avenue was probably exhausted last week. 

Posted by: pjay | Feb 15 2026 17:25 utc | 29

 In the Cuban Missile Crisis the US most backed down without appearing to, the Missiles were pulled out of Turkey several
face saving months after the “Crisis” , so typical.

Posted by: qparker | Feb 15 2026 17:28 utc | 30

Rewatching Mikhail Kalatozov’s Soy Cuba, 1964. Hauntingly shot – incredibly tragic, increasingly violent and somehow remains hopeful despite all. There’s no better time to revisit it.

Posted by: Friul | Feb 15 2026 17:32 utc | 31

The US backed down in the Cuban missile crisis. They pulled their missiles out of Turkey so the Soviets stopped deploying their missiles to Cuba. The Soviets achieved what they wanted to achieve.
 
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Feb 15 2026 17:19 utc | 28
 
Hey, I appreciate the fact the Turkey deal made things more equitable- in secret. But that didn’t help Khrushchev in any real sense, and he got forced out of office mere months after Kennedy was “removed” by the Dimona types.
 
Maybe the modern Russians are getting all kinds of major concessions from modern America in exchange for Syria and Venezuela, but those are very quiet as well.

Posted by: They Call Me Mister | Feb 15 2026 17:39 utc | 32

A link from my last comment on old thread. 
Dodgy towers that would have taken billions to dismantle?
Or was it the trillions in stolen wealth?
 
It took a while for the nugget of historical fact to re-emerge with this controlled demolition potus.
 
The key is Lutnick

 
Here is the root of all the withheld files … they have had a few years to build the smoke and mirrors.
 
The ‘missing towers’ of dated released files… none from 1999-2001
 

JAKEGTV
 
 
@JakeG_Official
7h
There’s 3,000,000 Epstein files withheld/ redacted that directly coincide with 9/11. Remember when trillions of dollars went missing right before the twin tower attacks?
 
This might explain why.
HBL0MvDawAABNhu.jpg.webp
Feb 15, 2026 · 8:14 AM UTC

 
 
Stunning graphic eh?
 
b has a reasonable point I’d say.
 

Posted by: DunGroanin | Feb 15 2026 17:47 utc | 33

Did Marilyn Monroe‘s shrink brutally rape her and then murdered her with sleeping pills ? 
 

Posted by: Exile | Feb 15 2026 17:50 utc | 34

Posted by: They Call Me Mister | Feb 15 2026 17:12 utc | 27
 
There is a great difference between Venezuela and Cuba.
 
There is/ was a naval blockade of Venezuela with war vessels.
 
There are not for Cuba, the blockade is the threat of tarifs and sanctions made by Trump.
 
So countries that are already sanctionned like Russia or Iran, or witch don’t fear tarifs like China can supply Cuba.
 
The main problems are elsewhere: the cost, the settlement and the distance.
And among all, the disponibilty of the suitable oil.

Posted by: Sebgo | Feb 15 2026 17:54 utc | 35

Posted by: pjay | Feb 15 2026 17:25 utc | 29
 
#####
 
And here you are, offering a dissenting viewpoint.
 
I don’t read the weekly thread links as authoritative or b’s perspective.
 
If someone does, that is their thing. 
 
And if you aren’t inspired to be persuasive, that may suggest that you do not feel as passionately about the topic as you think you do.
 
Action (or inaction) always indicates true sentiment. That is why we judge people by what they do, not what they say.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Feb 15 2026 17:58 utc | 36

There is a great difference between Venezuela and Cuba.
 
So countries that are already sanctionned like Russia or Iran, or witch don’t fear tarifs like China can supply Cuba.
 
Posted by: Sebgo | Feb 15 2026 17:54 utc | 35
 
Well, we’re about to find out. In theory ships could go straight from Vladivostok to Venezuela without much difficulty along the way. But the USN and Coast Guard have a large number of assets in the (sigh) Gulf of America, while sizable fleets might get stopped at the Panama Canal. It’s a much harder path for people planning to credibly challenge the USN.
 
Russia could easily send that fleet around Cape Horn, of course, or even fly oil to Cuba on military transports. But the resistance cheerleaders insisted that secret military shipments were likewise being sent to Venezuela, and we know how that turned out.

Posted by: They Call Me Mister | Feb 15 2026 18:06 utc | 37

With no Levant/Palestine/MENA topic, I am posting this here.
 
I have heard on YouTube from a reliable channel that Reza Pahlavi has gone missing in Munich after he did the rounds lobbying for regime change in Iran.
 
I don’t know if that means he was waylaid, or kidnapped, or something else.
 
If anyone hears anything about what is being said (a lot of nothing in the Western weekend press right now), please post it.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Feb 15 2026 18:06 utc | 38

My theory is that we’re coming up on an inflection point, and that a lot of people (and states) are simultaneously being more and less bold.
 
Folks like to cheer for the winner.
 
The Iran situation will determine a lot, and until that domino falls, a lot of things are in stasis.
 
Will Russia do X or Y? Will China do something about something?
 
I think we will have our answers in the spring if Trump attacks Iran in the next 30 days.
 
Once America destroys/captures a key BRICS member or is destroyed itself (any loss of significant naval assets will be the worst loss since WW2).

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Feb 15 2026 18:11 utc | 39

DunGroanin | Feb 15 2026 17:47 utc | 33
 
That is very interesting. It was in 1999 that a senate hear found that it would require another pearl harbor to take Americans to war. Some years back I looked for and found and read the transcript of that senate hearing.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Feb 15 2026 18:13 utc | 40

They Call Me Mister | Feb 15 2026 18:06 utc | 37
 
Venezuela, like Syria, was destroyed from the inside. Somebody critical sold out. By the time the Americans came in, the air defence had been stood down and the presidential guard disarmed and killed. While the air defense was stood down the Americans destroyed it. 
 
The only thing I’m not sure of was if the VP was involved. I forget the name of it but there is one Venezuelan security force that could have done that and the head of that force sold out for sure. There was one or two positions that did open fire on the helicopters with machine guns but as they had no air defense, those positions were destroyed with auto cannon. The fable of helicopters full of big Macs doing battle with the Venezuelan defense is just that, a fable. 

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Feb 15 2026 18:26 utc | 41

The links our host provided about Marco Rubio seemed all over the place. The Bloomberg seemed to see Rubio as another neocon, which as I recall was more or less our host’s position. The State Department link of course would avoid such jargon. And the FT headline definitely sold Rubio as MAGA. It seems to me that so-called neocon has become rather an empty pejorative, hinting at some sort of nefariousness while being completely unclear as to what sins are being committed. It’s like figuring out what medieval sources were talking about when they mentioned sodomy. It is after all Rubio who has ventured closest to disavowing so-called neocon by phrases about a multi-polar world. My interpretation is that the so-called multipolarity has a built-in problem, namely a world of contesting empires is multipolar. That I think is the kind of multipolarity, a very MAGA version, I think, Rubio is pushing. And it is entirely compatible with whatever nastiness is meant to be conjured up by the word neocon. Most of all, one has to reject any babble about Rubio the neocon that sees him as anything more than Trump’s creature. If he pursues a policy Trump sees as a failure, I think Trump will dump Little Marco. Stalin dumped Litvinov when collective security failed and put in Molotov to carry out the new policy. 

Posted by: steven t johnson | Feb 15 2026 18:27 utc | 42

LoveDonbass | Feb 15 2026 18:11 utc | 39
 
I think at some point Russia and China will have to make a military move to stop the Americans. China is the largest importer of oil so the American moves to control the oil very much targets China. But controlling the Transit routes also means the US controls Russian exports.
I felt in 2026, the threat of nuclear war had faded to an extent. The Trump admin was intent on doing some sort of deal with Russia. The Brits and Europeans blocked that so once again the doomsday clock comes close to midnight.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Feb 15 2026 18:32 utc | 43

@steven t johnson | Feb 15 2026 18:27 utc | 42
The reason Stalin dumped Litvinov was he had a British wife who retained her British nationality so the Germans didnt trust Litvinov.

Posted by: petergrfstrm | Feb 15 2026 18:34 utc | 44

I have two Epstein Class articles that dig into other aspects few are writing about, Epstein, Moral & Immoral Capitalism, the West’s Imperial Decline and Epstein Class: Making Money Killing People is A-OK, the latter being the shorter of the two.
 
IMO, the infighting at the Kremlin story is bogus and was conjured up for the Munich Security Conference where the most notable things said were by Wang Yi over Japan as reported by Guancha:
 
 

Wang Yi said: “We are now in Germany and Europe, and I might as well compare Japan and Germany. Germany completely liquidated the Nazis after the war and legislated to prohibit the propaganda of Nazi ideas, but Japan was completely different, Class A war criminals were still enshrined in shrines, and Japanese dignitaries went to worship in an endless stream and worshipped them as gods. What does this mean? This shows that Japan’s ambition to invade and colonize Taiwan has not been extinguished, and it shows that the ghost of Japanese militarism is not far away, and it must be observed.”
 
 
“At that time, Japan launched an invasion of China and attacked Pearl Harbor under the same pretext, the so-called ‘existential crisis situation’, and if it does not repent, it is bound to repeat the mistakes of the past. First of all, the Japanese people should no longer be coerced and blinded by those far-right forces that even want to revive militarism. All peace-loving countries should warn Japan that if they want to go back, they can only bring about their own destruction; If you want to gamble again, you will only lose faster and worse. Wang Yi said.

 
Wang Yi and Rubio met on the sidelines shook hands and smiled for the cameras and agreed to continue smiling together in public. I see Global Times has now filed a report in English that’s somewhat fuller. 
 

Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 15 2026 18:39 utc | 45

It might be the greatest contribution towards world peace of my lifetime if China worked with Iran to develop highly accurate missile technology such that they could sink one or more aircraft carriers.  Trump would insist on revenge if that happened but it could mark the end of US naval bullying, a real positive.

Posted by: Eighthman | Feb 15 2026 18:40 utc | 46

steven t johnson | Feb 15 2026 18:27 utc | 42
 
It is now clear American aspirations have not changed. Only their business plan has. Control via the petro-dollar has run its course so now they are after control of the oil. The Persian Gulf is a big one. If the Americans can take out Iran, then they will control the Persian Gulf oil.
 
Venezuela is a big one too, the worlds largest reserves though relatively undeveloped at the moment. I’m not sure whats going on in Venezuela but for the moment it has to be assumed the Americans now control the oil.
The Americans are going for both the oil fields and the transit routes for oil. If they can achieve that, then they will hold a lot of power over the world. I can’t see Russia and China allowing.
 
Japan made the decision to strike the Americans over the oil embargo/siege. Russia and China are each far more powerful countries than Japan and America is far weaker than when attacked by Japan. The US is now running largely on bluff.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Feb 15 2026 18:44 utc | 47

Rewatching Mikhail Kalatozov’s Soy Cuba, 1964. Hauntingly shot – incredibly tragic, increasingly violent and somehow remains hopeful despite all. There’s no better time to revisit it.
 
Posted by: Friul | Feb 15 2026 17:32 utc | 31

 
Agree, “I am Cuba” was amazing production for 1964. 
 
Free if your local library offers Kanopy subscriptions..https://www.kanopy.com/en/product/i-am-cuba-0

Posted by: Fool Me Twice | Feb 15 2026 18:44 utc | 48

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Feb 15 2026 18:32 utc | 43
####
 
People only have hammers so all they see for solutions are nails.
 
China is limiting rare earths.
 
If one controls supply, they control timing.
 
If they control timing, they control outcomes.
 
There is no need to fire a shot.
 
Chinese thinker Lao Tzu coined the doctrine of “passive achievement”.
 
Very confusing to the West that thinks that every outcome can be forced and shaped with effort.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Feb 15 2026 18:46 utc | 49

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Feb 15 2026 18:32 utc | 43
 
I mentioned it before, and will here again. The US fleets are still absolutely vulnerable to attacks by DE attack subs.  There have been multiple instances of entirely undetected subs, until they surfaced in the middle of US fleet exercises. Chinese have done it at least twice, Canada does it during every joint wargaming exercise and I think it was one of the Scandinavian country subs did so too. When the US fleet is on highest alert playing ‘war’, they did not see the subs.
 
So several countries have a very good chance of sinking a US capital ship and getting away. Anonymously. Not that anonymous matters as we have seen. The US will assign blame to whoever they decide it is most useful to blame, no matter reality.
If I were the Chinese, this is what I would do when the time comes. Hit and run until the US tucks tail or runs out of ships. 
 
 

Posted by: ftp | Feb 15 2026 18:47 utc | 50

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/wu-wei
 

wu-wei
 
– action accomplishing its purpose in accordance with the natures of things and events.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Feb 15 2026 18:48 utc | 51

Las Vegas bar ejects former Border Patrol commander for patron safety
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xu6uncRJ_6I
 
 
 

Posted by: farm ecologist | Feb 15 2026 18:54 utc | 52

LoveDonbass | Feb 15 2026 18:46 utc | 49
 
The Americans are going for broke. We have watched the Europeans destroy their own economies because they thought they could take Russia down and loot it. And still, all they can think about is war with Russia. With Russia there did come a time when it had to take military action. I suspect China will be pushed to that point as well.
 
The US is obviously trying to avoid direct conflict with Russia and China and targeting all the peripherals, but pirating a Russian flagged vessel on the open sea is an act of war.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Feb 15 2026 19:00 utc | 53

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Feb 15 2026 19:00 utc | 53
 
#####
 
They could, yet I believe, more and more every day with the accumulating evidence, that they will not.
 
America is going for broke, but they don’t have the cards. Rock bottom awaits.
 
They need to take the Iranian oil from China’s orbit and put it in the West’s orbit.
 
As the expression goes, “if you swing at the King, you better not miss”.
 
America has to conquer Iran; anything less would be a failure. They cannot afford these embargo deployments. They cannot sustain overseas active operations.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Feb 15 2026 19:06 utc | 54

Thank you, b!  Before I read through comments so far, I want to recommend the following current conversation between Nima and Ray McGovern.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p08Yhtd_qZA
 
I found this to be an in depth revelation by Ray of the kinds of  to and fro analyses he and his counterparts in previous US administration advisorship roles  were able to do in the past,  as a way of defending his own current positions.  He did that well in my view.  Long, but very enjoyable, and also worthwhile!

Posted by: juliania | Feb 15 2026 19:08 utc | 55

Posted by: petergrfstrm | Feb 15 2026 18:34 utc | 44 Changing the director for the new movie? Collective security was aimed against Germany. And Germany’s trust or lack of trust in Litvinov personally was entirely irrelevant. It only was a potential issue because the new policy was predicated on the failure of collective security. If Germany not trusting Litvinov was the problem, then Stalin would have dumped Litvinov long before. This sort of thinking is very common in so-called diplomatic history, where personalities and individual deals often glide over much more important trends. You might call it hype. The  otherwise odd tendency of summits to not really change anything is another example of the phenomenon I think. PR stunts, personal connections, high-flown declarations all such things are flattering to the vanity of the participants. But their self-identification with their state is not really reciprocated. States don’t have minds, souls, personalities. Institution and customs keep taking the lead back. Putin personalized this as men in blue suits with dark ties without apparently asking himself how these nameless men were so compelling. Most leaders are sort of in contact with reality and when the men in blue suits are explaining the reality, that tends to be persuasive. 

Posted by: steven t johnson | Feb 15 2026 19:14 utc | 56

Maybe our Host should ponder this….

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VbN8lNRh94o&pp=ugUEEgJlbg%3D%3D

Posted by: Nobody | Feb 15 2026 19:14 utc | 57

MOATS, with George Galloway: ‘Rumble in the Jumble’
 
https://www.youtube.com/@GeorgeGallowayOfficial
 
“Silent Summit| Trump, Netanyahu, Iran| Israel’s phony peace|Epstein now|”
 
“The world is sliding deeper into chaos. Was there a silent summit between Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu? What is really happening behind closed doors over Iran, Gaza and the so-called ‘peace’ process?
 
And why are the Epstein files back in the headlines again – with explosive questions about who is being protected?”
 
Guests: Jimmy Dore, Chay Bowes

Posted by: John Gilberts | Feb 15 2026 19:31 utc | 58

And among all, the disponibilty of the suitable oil.
Posted by: Sebgo | Feb 15 2026 17:54 utc | 35
 
I looked up the word disponsibility and this came up—–
 
My guess is that the person who used it is a native French speaker and translated disponibilité with the closest sounding cognate. (Could be similar in Spanish, I don’t know.) I say this because disponibilité is extremely common in French where we would use availability (e.g. “pas de disponibilité” for an apartment or job that is taken).

Posted by: arby | Feb 15 2026 19:36 utc | 59

The US backed down in the Cuban missile crisis. They pulled their missiles out of Turkey so the Soviets stopped deploying their missiles to Cuba. The Soviets achieved what they wanted to achieve.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Feb 15 2026 17:19 utc | 28
Yup.  It’s funny how people have no idea how pervasive the American narrative to everything in modern western history is.
Kind of like “Vietnam was a draw”.  Uh, no it wasn’t.  It took until about 2010 for Americans to start counting it as a loss.  When I was in high school, we were taught it was a draw, like the Korean war was, and that America had never lost a war.

Posted by: UWDude | Feb 15 2026 19:37 utc | 60

Posted by: They Call Me Mister | Feb 15 2026 18:06 utc | 37
 
When you say “easily”, you miss the point.
 
Sending a sea fleet at the other end of the world have a cost, and neither Cuba nor Russia can afford it.
 
Cuba because they are poor, Russia because they need that fleet elsewhere to export its oil.
 
And it will need to be done every week or month at least.
 
The other problem is that they need heavy oil, that can give a lot of diesel oil, that power the economy, and less gasoline oil.
 
This heavy oil is now in demand all other the world, including in China and the USA.
 
That’s why the oil from Venezuela was/ is the best for Cuba: heavy, nearby and cheap.
 
That’s why Russia from time to time ban the export of diesel.
That’s why China was buying 70% of venezuelan oil.
And that’s why Trump want that oil so badly now.
 
The best choice would be to send crude oil to Cuba, so that its refining industry continue to work.
But in this state of emergency, sending the oil products, diesel and gasoline will certainly prevail.
 
As Cuba can’t bear the cost of the oil itself and the cost of the shipping from so far, someone else must subsidize it, for as long as the blockade will last.
 
Who can/ must do it ? It’s not that simple.

Posted by: Sebgo | Feb 15 2026 19:37 utc | 61

Posted by: arby | Feb 15 2026 19:36 utc | 59
 
Touché !
 
I am a french speaking poster, and I often mismatch my words.
 
Thank you for the correction.

Posted by: Sebgo | Feb 15 2026 19:39 utc | 62

very strong evidence Charlie Kirk was killed by a bomb in his microphone.  the neck wound was caused by the microphone battery (a 1.5 cm square) being ejected during the explosion, and striking his neck…
…that wasn’t supposed to happen.  It was supposed to be bloodless for the cameras, so as not to traumatize the world.
 
Erika Kirk grieved by 12 days later telling all “her” TPUSA employees that their numbers were great, donations were up, and they could take PTO days if they needed some time off to grieve.
 
Most recently, its been noticed, “somebody” took down the wedding photo on the bookshelf in Charlie’s studio.

Posted by: UWDude | Feb 15 2026 19:45 utc | 63

Re: Making big bucks off 9/11 ?
 
Justin Raimundo, founder of Anriwar.com, had a fair number of articles exploring the subject of extraordinary lucrative wall street options trades made prior to 9/11.  

Posted by: Exile | Feb 15 2026 19:52 utc | 64

R2R: The Navalny PSYOP| More Epstein Revelations| Week in Review
 
https://www.youtube.com/@reason2resist
 
“In this livestream, Dimitri Lascaris and Rami Yahia break down yesterday’s claim by 5 European governments that Vladimir Putin’s government murdered Alexei Navalny with ‘dart frog poison’.
 
They also discuss new revelations from the Epstein files.”

Posted by: John Gilberts | Feb 15 2026 19:56 utc | 65

Posted by: steven t johnson | Feb 15 2026 18:27 utc | 42
Rubio has his opinions and if you don’t like them he has others.
He’s just going along to get along, with a beady on his own future presidential run.

Posted by: ChatNPC | Feb 15 2026 19:58 utc | 66

UWDude | Feb 15 2026 19:37 utc | 60
 
So many things I have believed all my life. This last decade putting in a lot of research and finding so much was pure bullshit. Propaganda. The cold war then the American war of terror.
 
The bullshit now, the propaganda is at unbelievable levels yet many believe in the propaganda and the system.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Feb 15 2026 19:58 utc | 67

Thank you for the correction.
Posted by: Sebgo | Feb 15 2026 19:39 utc | 62
 
I posted it because it is evidence of who you say you are. You write on these boards in such good English that it would cause doubt about where you claim to be from.

Posted by: arby | Feb 15 2026 20:00 utc | 68

Sean Foo: ‘Fatal Mistake’
 
https://www.youtube.com/@SeanFooGold/videos
 
“Economic war on Iran will backfire| Canada to crush US autos| Russia Redollarization panic|”

Posted by: John Gilberts | Feb 15 2026 20:14 utc | 69

In my humble opinion, we should accept that b is following his line in the Epstein saga for one reason or other, and present contradicting views strictly in perspective, without engaging emotionally too much. The upcoming threads will be finer for that.
 
Opinions on John Helmer will vary. Personally, I’ve almost always skipped the few articles and interviews by him that I started looking into after some recommendation here on MoA. It’s hard to pin down what exactly is putting me off without calling for everyone to don their alu caps first, but there seems to be a hysterical subcurrent which reminds me of the NATO narratives about “Russia bad/dysfunctional” etc. Or maybe it’s just the graphic design of his website, I don’t know. 

Posted by: persiflo | Feb 15 2026 20:16 utc | 70

Posted by: persiflo | Feb 15 2026 20:16 utc | 70

Posted by: ftp | Feb 15 2026 20:18 utc | 71

Posted by: persiflo | Feb 15 2026 20:16 utc | 70
I feel the same.
 
(sorry about blank @71. Cat stepped on enter key)

Posted by: ftp | Feb 15 2026 20:19 utc | 72

Posted by: arby | Feb 15 2026 20:00 utc | 68
 
Thank you very much.
 
There was a time when I was forced to take courses in matters like rotating machines and asynchronous motors, and similar headaches, in English.
 
I can tell you my teacher doesn’t share your assessment of my performance in the language.
 
The difference now is that reading blogs in English everyday helps a lot.

Posted by: Sebgo | Feb 15 2026 20:19 utc | 73

Posted by: UWDude | Feb 15 2026 19:45 utc | 63

I found the Theory that He was electrocuted by His Mic the Best so far….Covers all Angles…

Posted by: Nobody | Feb 15 2026 20:25 utc | 74

I recently watched a debate between Black-Americans and an African, and could not help but  think how alike the African was to Sebgo. 
When Sebgo first poked his head in, It reminded me of a couple of other interactions online I had seen of Africans arguing, and one of a Sudanese in one of my college classes.  (At bars, they have always been calm and great for discussion, I talked to a lot back when I went to bars in Seattle).
Many Africans seem to like to start a debate with “you know nothing about my country.”  to which he gets the reply “ok tell us”, and then he says “see, you no nothing about my country”.  Like they try to first “shape the battlefield” of the debate by establishing they have superiority in knowledge on the topic, but then the debate goes nowhere.
 
And I still doubt Sebgo is Burkinabe.  Too much American troll slang in his language.  I wonder if he is actually one of the French forced out of Burkina Faso by Traore.

Posted by: UWDude | Feb 15 2026 20:32 utc | 75

Multiple pro-monarchy protests for Iran yesterday with “hundreds of thousands” coming out (Toronto, LA, Berlin, …). Pictures suggest otherwise – anybody have accurate numbers on these things?

Posted by: farm ecologist | Feb 15 2026 20:33 utc | 76

Posted by: persiflo | Feb 15 2026 20:16 utc | 70

I watch Him sometimes on Nima/Dialogue Works. He seems to have good Info and a not to annoying Voice/Speech Habit. Wich is kind of important if you listen for 1 Hour+…

Posted by: Nobody | Feb 15 2026 20:35 utc | 77

Posted by: UWDude | Feb 15 2026 20:32 utc | 75
 
Not interested in your opinion.
 
Not.at.all.
 
Have a good day.
 
PS : telling the bar about your “experience” with Africans and only referring to them as people in bars and taxi drivers is very telling by itself.
Hint: I have never been a taxi driver and I don’t like tourists bars. Too much dumb racist infatuated “I-know-all” tourists.

Posted by: Sebgo | Feb 15 2026 20:40 utc | 78

Sebego,

greatest respect : rotating electrical machines ? Are you A for real old school EE. 

Posted by: Exile | Feb 15 2026 20:47 utc | 79

Posted by: Exile | Feb 15 2026 20:47 utc | 79
 
Thank you.
But Let’s say maybe.
 
As you have read, some here say there are “just missing a digit” to find me.
 
I think they just want to scare me into silence but let’s not help them.

Posted by: Sebgo | Feb 15 2026 21:07 utc | 80

Posted by: Fool Me Twice | Feb 15 2026 18:44 utc | 48 & Friul
The use of infra-red film in Soy Cuba is really cool.  The director, Mikhail Kalatozov also directed The Cranes Are Flying
and Letters Never Sent.  He is one of the greats, amongst many in Soviet moviemaking.  I love the theme song of The Cranes Are Flying by Mark Bernes.

Posted by: lex talionis | Feb 15 2026 21:12 utc | 81

UWDude | Feb 15 2026 20:32 utc | 75
 
Its just a matter of asking him what policies would use to pull the common man out of poverty in BF. An empty vessel.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Feb 15 2026 21:20 utc | 82

Impossible 2 minute 23 second crane shot from Soy Cuba ==> https://youtu.be/6hiV9NQnoa4
 
Just amazing cinematography!
 

Posted by: too scents | Feb 15 2026 21:26 utc | 83

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Feb 15 2026 21:20 utc | 82
 
Please answer to the same question for your own country.
 
And let us here devise about what is good for us.
 
You have no say in the matter, and no high ground to “asses” my ideas if I come to have ones.
 
For your information, everybody don’t born with the girl to gouvern his country, let alone to gouvern other’s country.

Posted by: Sebgo | Feb 15 2026 21:29 utc | 84

Oups… “The goal to gouvern”…

Posted by: Sebgo | Feb 15 2026 21:30 utc | 85

Posted by: too scents | Feb 15 2026 21:26 utc | 83
From what I have read, they handed the camera to one another to complete the shot.
Goebbels had respect for Soviet filmmakers.  It’s in his diaries.  I don’t have the exact source.   He also like Snow White as did 18.
They’re quite interesting to read when one ties them to historical dates.  And how the Fuhrer (18) was banging his wife.
Perhaps why he had such a lack of difficulty erasing his gene pool?  

Posted by: lex talionis | Feb 15 2026 21:35 utc | 86

Please answer to the same question for your own country.
 
Posted by: Sebgo | Feb 15 2026 21:29 utc | 84
 

 
Rather than being combative if you don’t know the answer say you don’t know or if you don’t want to give your opinion say that you’d rather not share it.  That would be less evasive, more transparent and less likely to incite distrust.
 
Answering a challenge with a challenge is rarely a good idea.
 
 

Posted by: too scents | Feb 15 2026 21:39 utc | 87

thanks for another great week, b.

Ted Postol on Nima.

I like the pictures he show starting at 21:16
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llW5RUMkZLo

Posted by: Sakineh Bagoom | Feb 15 2026 21:41 utc | 88

Sebgo | Feb 15 2026 21:29 utc | 84
 
Then devise would is good for “us” as you say. How would that differ from the current government. How would you devise policies that would be better for the people of BF. I have not tried to tell you what policies are needed there. Don’t come across like a smartarse nigger to me. The that’s the status you set yourself at, then that is how I will treat you. Put on this board the policies you think are required for Birkina Faso.
 
You Just say Traore bad, Russia bad and other than that you don’t say jack shit. Under the French, the people of BF have lived in poverty even though the country is rich in resources. What is your poverty alleviation policy for Birkina Faso. And don’t come the smartarse nigger with me. I have no time for that shit no matter the colour of a persons skin. Because the Sahel is under attack from the French and the Brits and US who train fund and arm the headchoppers, you will also need a defence policy. What is that defense policy? 
 
I saw Putin one time – a US backed bimbo thought she would run for president against Putin. There was some sort of televised debate and Putin asked her what her policies were. Vote Putin out. So he asked what her economic policies were, what here defense policies were. Vote Putin out. A bloody bimbo that didn’t have a clue what she would do if Putin was voted out.
You are exactly the same. An African bimbo.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Feb 15 2026 21:43 utc | 89

Posted by: too scents | Feb 15 2026 21:39 utc | 87
 
I am not here to promote myself or my political thoughts.
 
I used to think that those who harbor political ambitions in their own country but first seek advice from foreigners do not deserve to govern their fellow citizens.
 
And those with ambitions do not bury themselves in a small foreign blog frequented by senior citizens from other countries, in a language inaccessible to the majority of their population.
 
I will not discuss topics imposed by others with pressure and blackmail. Period.
 
If not you can think that… ? No problem, do so.
 
And even if I were, you would miss out on factual and cultural information necessary to follow our local debates. Facts and culture I can’t share with a few posts.
 
The first thing about governance, is self-governance by those who have a stake in the country.
So I am back with what I said : it’s not for foreigners to design our policy.

Posted by: Sebgo | Feb 15 2026 21:53 utc | 90

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Feb 15 2026 21:43 utc | 89
 
As I already told you, your insults are going to take you nowhere.
 
You are not a higher figure I have to consider, to take advice from, or to please. Nor to fight or insult.
 
You are just a foreigner on a blog who think he know better than me le about everything, from life to how my country must be ruled, or how I must “behave”.
 
A mind colonizer with nothing to assert his will but accusations, smear and insults.

Posted by: Sebgo | Feb 15 2026 21:58 utc | 91

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Feb 15 2026 21:43 utc | 89
 
Oh, and one more time: Everybody IS NOT dreaming of running a country.

Posted by: Sebgo | Feb 15 2026 22:01 utc | 92

Perimeter runs 24-7.

Posted by: pepe | Feb 15 2026 22:03 utc | 93

RE: precious metals
 
More thoughts on the topic to bore those uninterested.
 

  • Russia has 40% of their reserves in gold
  • Why does the US, everytime it invades a conquer, conspicuously and immediately seize their PMs? 
  • (Rhetorical) Why does the US want to punish countries that save in gold?
  • India, a large holder of PMs out of a natural habit, seems to have escaped the ire of the US. Has this been contingent on India’s ability to thread the needle of its bilateral relations with the US while not yielding its sovereignty and diversification? (Sort of like Turkey, then, a wildcard who looks out for “Numero Uno”)
  • The Shanghai exchange is closed for another 8 days. Is this the time for Comex to smash the price down to fifty? (Twofer: Will this be the final dip before a projected massive run-up in March?)
  • Taken together, if we can infer that the US hates “saver countries” (those that traditionally hold a large reserve in PMs) can we also conclude that the US, through domestic policy, also hates domestic savers? If that is the case, what are we to make of proponents of MMT-theory that advocates highest-velocity/no-savings paradigm? Are they crypto-apologists for the worst aspects of Empire (i.e. breaking into a country (house), stealing their gold, and putting them under debt- (house-) arrest)? 
  • Don’t answer these CoA. 

Posted by: NemesisCalling | Feb 15 2026 22:08 utc | 94

With regards to Epstein, I found this shocking nugget – apparently Ghislaine Maxwell was a supermod on Reddit for 15+ years, been one of the most, if not the most prolific posters there and basically deciding what goes on the front page. 
 
Overview:
https://www.rareddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/hnfx0r/not_confirmed_but_research_suggests_that
 
More indepth video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1FA7AV_WfM
 
In addition, her dad, Robert Maxwell owns McGraw-Hill the company known for creating textbooks for schools in America – Americans basically grew up on those books in class! Not only that, Victor Ostrovsky who was ex Israeli intelligence literally said that Robert Maxwell used his media empire to push pro Israel propaganda as a high level Mossad agent.
 
Between Epstein been involved in starting /pol/ for right wing discourse. Maxwell doing the same for the left on Reddit. Then the connections with figures like Chomsky and Bannon. It’s no wonder Jews own America. 
 
 

Posted by: Jules | Feb 15 2026 22:11 utc | 95

Oh, and one more time: Everybody IS NOT dreaming of running a country.
Posted by: Sebgo | Feb 15 2026 22:01 utc | 92
 
Well then cut you crap about Traore and Russia. Why do you find your way onto a blog like this to badmouth the leader of BF and badmouth the Russians, but have nothing better to put up.
 
You are an empty vessel. I have not told you nor tried to tell you how BF should be run. Traore seems to be doing a pretty good job for me as an outsider. You feel you can do better yet you are empty. You have nothing. You cannot voice a single policy that you think would be better for BF than what Traore is doing. I am from Australia and I don’t presume to say what policy is best for the people of BF.
 
So spit it out.  What policies would be better for the people of BF than what Traore is doing. Spit it out. Don’t be shy.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Feb 15 2026 22:14 utc | 96

And I still doubt Sebgo is Burkinabe. Too much American troll slang in his language. I wonder if he is actually one of the French forced out of Burkina Faso by Traore.
 
Posted by: UWDude | Feb 15 2026 20:32 utc | 75
Yep.  Total fraud.  Don’t waste your time, flies

Posted by: Ahenobarbus | Feb 15 2026 22:15 utc | 97

I don’t like it when people make arguments based on their immutable characteristics like race, nationality, etc.
 
What one writes is either correct or it is not.
 
That is why I try not to appeal to my personal experiences to make my case.
 
It is either correct or it is not.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Feb 15 2026 22:18 utc | 98

Posted by: too scents | Feb 15 2026 21:39 utc | 87
 
Another day, I will take the example with something you once referred to : “traditional law” in my country.
 
It’s a “hot topic” here and maybe you will begin to understand how difficult it is for a foreigner to meddle into our debates.
 
And why everybody in the country doesn’t share the decision if the leadership to impose it.
 
Another day, I will explain to you why the women are the ones advocating for polygamy in our country, and several times in our history they forced the postponing of laws for this reason.

Posted by: Sebgo | Feb 15 2026 22:18 utc | 99

And why everybody in the country doesn’t share the decision if the leadership to impose it.
 
Another day, I will explain to you why the women are the ones advocating for polygamy in our country, and several times in our history they forced the postponing of laws for this reason.
 
Posted by: Sebgo | Feb 15 2026 22:18 utc | 99
 
######
 
That is every country everywhere.
 
Also, some Muslim women prefer polygyny. Polygamy is different and not halal.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Feb 15 2026 22:22 utc | 100